The same Washington politicians that brought you healthcare “reform” are now working to fix the financial system with new regulations and more bureaucracy. The targets include lending abuses in the mortgage industry, investing in so-called derivatives and hedge funds and how to deal with companies “too big to fail.” Of course, what’s in the House and Senate bills now and what winds up in the final version is anybody’s guess.



The big question is: how much damage will be done by this “reform?”



First, there are a couple of glaring omissions, pointed out by U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) in voting against the Senate bill which passed 59-39. Left out of the bill are two of the worst offenders, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage companies that ought to head the reform list.



“It is absolutely wrong,” Isakson said. “Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae started this economic crisis and they are exempt from this piece of legislation.”



As usual, Isakson is absolutely right. He was also right in pushing legislation to dig into the actual causes of the economic crisis more than a year ago with creation of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, authorized in the financial fraud bill signed into law May 20, 2009. The commission was given a $5 million budget, subpoena power and 18 months to investigate the causes of the financial and economic crash of 2008.



The duly authorized commission is supposed to make its final report by Dec. 15 this year with recommendations on how to prevent a future meltdown – but meanwhile, the Obama administration is plowing ahead with its financial system “reform” without the commission’s report or any input from the very group charged with finding the problems and proposing changes to the financial system.



It’s the same old attitude you saw with the healthcare “reform.” Most Americans opposed it, but the Washington ruling elite didn’t care. The only way to get the attention of the Dems in Congress is to vote them out of office in November. But they can do a lot more damage before Election Day.